1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to porous carbon. More specifically, the invention is a porous carbon having three-dimensionally ordered porosity and carbon nanotube reinforcement, as well as a method of fabricating same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Porous carbon is being considered for use in a variety of applications to include electrochemical energy storage devices, thermal dispersion devices, and electric charge dispersion devices. For example, in terms of electrochemical energy storage devices, porous carbon may provide the requisite storage capacity for hydrogen when hydrogen is to be used as an energy carrier in high-energy density rechargeable batteries or hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells. In particular, micro-porous carbon foams are promising candidates for the hydrogen storage objective since porous carbon foam presents a large surface area for hydrogen absorption. However, porous carbon foams are mechanically weak. Further, the non-uniform nature of the porosity of these carbon foams is a drawback for applications requiring precise porosity control.
The non-uniform porosity problem is addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,469 where glassy porous carbon structures are constructed by providing an opal-like lattice structure of silicon dioxide spheres, infiltrating a carbon precursor into the lattice structure, carbonizing the carbon precursor, and then dissolving the silicon dioxide spheres. However, the resulting porous structure is mechanically weak.